The wife of Enrique Marquez Jr. appeared before a judge Thursday. Marquez, an alleged conspirator with the terrorists who attacked the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on Dec. 2, remains in a federal detention center waiting for his next day in court. He is accused of supplying rifles and explosive powder to Syed Rizwan Farook.

In this courtroom sketch, Enrique Marquez appears in federal court in Riverside in this 2015 file photo. Marquez, 24, who authorities say bought the assault rifles his friend used in the San Bernardino massacre appeared in court to face terrorism-related allegations.

While Enrique Marquez Jr.’s Russian wife appeared before a judge Thursday, April 28, he remained in a federal detention center waiting for his next day in court.

Mariya Chernykh, a 26-year-old Ontario resident, made her first appearance in the same federal court where her husband has appeared.

She was arrested Thursday in an immigration and marriage fraud case along with her sister, Tatiana Farook, a 31-year-old Corona resident — who also came from Russia — and husband Syed Raheel Farook, a 31-year-old Corona resident.

The trio is accused in a marriage fraud conspiracy that involved making false statements under oath to obtain immigration benefits for one of the defendants.

Marquez, who is accused of supplying rifles and explosive powder used in the San Bernardino attack, was indicted in December in connection with the alleged marriage fraud.

Marquez is charged with entering into a sham marriage with Chernykh in November 2014 and illegally signing an immigration document for falsely declaring he was living with her. Neighbors said he never lived with her and authorities allege Marquez received $200 a month for a year from Chernykh to marry her.

The federal indictments assert the couple claimed they lived together when they did not. Marquez lived with his parents in Riverside, while Chernykh lived in Ontario with her boyfriend and their child.

Marquez’s friend Viviana Ramirez has said he told her he was trying to earn enough money at WalMart and a tavern so he and his wife could get their own place. She didn’t know if the marriage was arranged by the sister or if they got married without knowing each other.

“He never really talked about the marriage,” Ramirez said in December. “He said they just didn’t have the money to move in together.”

The marriage fraud claims were almost a footnote to the headline-grabbing indictment.

It alleged that Marquez, 24, a Riverside neighbor of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook — Syed Raheel Farook’s brother — had purchased rifles and explosive powder when he and Rizwan Farook plotted in 2011 and 2012 to carry out terrorists attacks at Riverside City College and on the 91 Freeway during rush hour. The plans never were carried out.

But federal authorities have said the weapons and explosive powder were used in the Dec. 2 San Bernardino attack by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.

A federal prosecutor has said Marquez did not participate in and wasn’t aware of the San Bernardino attack.

Marquez is accused of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, two counts of lying on federal forms for gun purchases and two counts of marriage fraud. He faces a status conference and motion hearings June 27.

His trial date is set for July 19 in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

He pleaded not guilty in January and faces up to 50 years in federal prison if convicted.

Gail Wesson has covered news for The Press-Enterprise for decades, mostly in Riverside County, with occasional forays across the county line. Datelines on her stories span the county – from the state agricultural inspection station in Blythe, to the Circle in Corona, the Stringfellow Acid Pits in Mira Loma, Temecula before there were traffic signals and to the highest point in the county, Mount San Jacinto. Most of her time has been spent covering local governments or how county, state or federal government affects communities. Breaking news, from floods to wild land fires and the consequences of disasters, watchdog reporting, criminal courts coverage and environmental explainers on water rights/supply issues and why bald eagles and San Bernardino kangaroo rats should be saved are icing on her news cake.

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